The

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of Chi ...

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

, the capital city of

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,500 years. Starting out from the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

-era archaeological site at

Panlongcheng Panlongcheng () or Panlong City is an archaeological site associated with the Erligang culture () during the Shang dynasty period (). The site is located just north of the Yangtze river, on the bank of the Panlong lake, and is surrounded by the Fu ...

associated with Erligang culture, the region would become part of the E state and

Chu state Chu, or Ch'u in Wade–Giles romanization, (, Hanyu Pinyin: Chǔ, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was a Zhou dynasty vassal state. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou ...

during the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

. The region evolved into an important port on the middle reaches of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

, and the cities of Hanyang,

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...

and Wuchang were united into the city of Wuhan in 1926. Wuhan briefly serving as the capital city of China in 1927 and in 1937. Modern-day Wuhan is known as 'China's Thoroughfare' () due to its status as a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city and connecting to other major cities.

Antiquity

With a 3,500-year-long history, Wuhan is one of the most ancient and civilized metropolitan cities in China.

, an archaeological site associated with the Erligang culture, is located in modern-day Huangpi District. During the

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong n ...

, the E state controlled the present-day Wuchang area south of the Yangtze River. After the conquest of the E state, the present-day Wuhan area was controlled by the

for the rest of the Western Zhou and

Eastern Zhou The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. History In 770 ...

periods.

Early Imperial China

During the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, Hanyang became a fairly busy port. The

Battle of Xiakou The Battle of Xiakou was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 203 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Sun Quan's forces attempted to conquer Jiangxia Commandery (present-day Xinzhou District, Wuhan, Hubei), which was defen ...

in AD 203 and

Battle of Jiangxia The Battle of Jiangxia was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 208 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The battle was the last part of a series of military engagements between Sun Quan and Liu Biao's general Huang Zu in J ...

five years later were fought over control of Jiangxia Commandery (present-day eastern Hubei). In the winter of 208/9, one of the most famous battles in Chinese history and a central event in the ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD ...

''—the Battle of Red Cliffs—took place in the vicinity of the cliffs near Wuhan. Around that time, walls were built to protect Hanyang (AD 206) and Wuchang (AD 223). The latter event marks the foundation of Wuhan. In AD 223, the

Yellow Crane Tower Yellow Crane Tower () is a traditional Chinese tower located in Wuhan. The current structure was built in 1981, but the tower has existed in various forms from as early as AD 223. The current Yellow Crane Tower is high and covers an area of . ...

(), one of the

Four Great Towers of China The Four Great Towers of China() are four historically renowned towers in China. The list usually includes the following: * Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼), Wuhan, Hubei province - () * Pavilion of Prince Teng (滕王阁), Nanchang, Jiangxi Provi ...

, was constructed on the Wuchang side of the Yangtze River by order of Sun Quan, leader of the Eastern Wu. Xia Yong - Huang He Lou

Due to tensions between the Eastern Wu and

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later rem ...

, grandson of Cao Cao and the second emperor of the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Man Chong Man Chong () (before 175According to the chronology of Man Chong's biography in ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', he was older than 17 when he was recruited by Cao Cao during Cao's tenure as Governor of Yan Province between 191 and 192. By calc ...

to lead troops to Xiakou (夏口; in present-day Wuhan). In 279, Wang Jun wrote a memorial to Emperor Wu, requesting that he order a military campaign against Eastern Wu. The emperor agreed, appointed Wang Jun as Prancing Dragon General () and ordered him to lead troops from Yi Province's capital,

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

, to invade Eastern Wu. Wang Jun and his army conquered strategic locations in Wu territory such as Xiling (西陵; in present-day

Yichang Yichang (), alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. It is the third largest city in the province after the capital, Wuhan and the prefecture-level city Xiangyang, by urban populati ...

, Hubei), Xiakou (夏口; present-day Hankou) and Wuchang (武昌; present-day

Ezhou Ezhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (''or metro'') area was home ...

, Hubei). When the Jin invasion forces reached the Wu capital Jianye, the last Wu emperor

Sun Hao Sun Hao (243 – January or February 284), courtesy name Yuanzong, originally named Sun Pengzu with the courtesy name Haozong, was the fourth and last emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the son ...

surrendered, thus bringing an end to the conquest of Wu. During the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

period, the Wuhan area was part of the successive Southern dynasty states

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

(420–479), Southern Qi (479–502), Liang, and Western Liang. In fall 550,

Hou Jing Hou Jing (; died June 552), courtesy name Wanjing (萬景), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was a general of Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, and Liang, and briefly, after controlling the Liang imperial regime for several ...

sent Ren Yue to attack both Xiao Daxin and Xiao Fan's son Xiao Si (). Ren killed Xiao Si in battle, and Xiao Daxin, unable to resist, surrendered, allowing Hou to take his domain under control. Meanwhile, Xiao Guan, who had by now settled at Jiangxia (江夏, in modern Wuhan), was planning to attack Hou, but this drew Xiao Yi's ire—believing that Xiao Guan was intending to contend for the throne—and he sent Wang to attack Xiao Guan. Xiao Guan, not willing to engage Wang, abandoned Jiangxia and fled to Ru'nan (汝南, in modern

Jingmen Jingmen () is a prefecture-level city in central Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Jingmen is within an area where cotton and oil crops are planted. The population of the prefecture is 2,873,687 (2010 population census). The urban area ...

), where he entered into an alliance with Eastern Wei's successor state

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

(with Gao Cheng's brother Gao Yang having seized the throne in summer 550) and was created the Prince of Liang as well. Meanwhile, Hou made Emperor Jianwen create him the Prince of Han. In summer 567, Chen Xu commissioned

Wu Mingche Wu Mingche (吳明徹) (512–578), courtesy name Tongzhao (通昭), was a general of the Chinese Chen Dynasty. He first served under the dynasty's founder Emperor Wu but became the most prominent general of the state during the reign of Emperor ...

as the governor of Xiang Province and had him command a major part of the troops against Hua, along with Chunyu Liang (). The opposing sides met at Dunkou (沌口, in modern Wuhan). Wu and Chunyu were able to ram Hua's, Northern Zhou's, and Western Liang's fleets, causing them to collapse. Hua and the Northern Zhou general Yuwen Zhi () were forced to flee to Western Liang's capital Jiangling. In light of the victory, Wu first captured Western Liang's Hedong Commandery (河東, part of modern Jingzhou), and then further put Jiangling under siege. Western Liang's Emperor Ming was forced to flee to the subsidiary fort of Ji'nan (紀南, near Jiangling). Wuhan_Wuying_Ta_2012

The city has long been renowned as a center for the arts (especially poetry) and for intellectual studies.

Cui Hao Cui Hao () (died 450 CE), courtesy name Boyuan (伯淵), was a ''shangshu'' of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. Largely because of Cui's counsel, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei was able to unify northern China, ending the Sixteen K ...

, a celebrated poet of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

, visited the building in the early 8th century; his poem made it the most celebrated building in southern China.Wan: Page 42. In spring 877, Wang Xianzhi captured E Prefecture (鄂州, in modern Wuhan). He then returned north, joining forces with Huang again, and they surrounded Song Wei at Song Prefecture (宋州, in modern

Shangqiu Shangqiu (), alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast and southeast respectivel ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). Only after the imperial general Zhang Zimian () came to Song Wei's aid did the agrarian rebels release their hold on Song Wei. Wang Xianzhi then headed south, successively capturing An Prefecture (安州, in modern Xiaogan,

) and Sui Prefecture (隨州, in modern Suizhou,

), before further raiding Fu (復州, in modern

Tianmen Tianmen () is a sub-prefecture-level city (sometimes considered a county-level city) in central Hubei Province, China. It is on the Jianghan Plain, on the west side of Wuhan (the biggest city of Central China, as well as the capital of Hubei) ...

) and Ying (郢州, in modern

).''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 253. In winter 877, Huang Chao pillaged Qi and Huang (黃州, in modern Wuhan) Prefectures. The Tang general Zeng Yuanyu () defeated him, however, and he fled. In 894, Wu Tao () the prefect of Huang Prefecture (黃州, modern Wuhan), who was under Du Hong the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan), offered to submit to

Yang Xingmi Yang Xingmi (; 852''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms''vol. 1 – December 24, 905Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 265.), né Yang Xingmin (楊行愍, name changed 886), courtesy name Huayuan ...

. In response, Du put Huang Circuit under siege. Yang sent Zhu to aid Wu. When another subordinate of Du's, Feng Jingzhang () the prefect of Qi Prefecture (蘄州, in modern Huanggang, Hubei) tried to intercept Zhu, Zhu put Qi Prefecture under siege but was initially unable to capture it. However, it appeared that subsequently, after Wu evacuated Huang Prefecture, Yang's forces were nevertheless able to hold it.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 259. Before Kublai Khan arrived in 1259, word reached him that Möngke had died. Kublai decided to keep the death of his brother secret and continued the attack on Wuhan, near the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

. While Kublai's force besieged Wuchang, Uryankhadai joined him. The present-day Wuying Pagoda was constructed at the end of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

between attacks by the Mongolian forces. Under the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

rulers (

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

), Wuchang was promoted to the status of provincial capital.

Qing dynasty

Opening Hankou as a trading port

By the dawn of the 18th century, Hankou had become one of China's top four most important towns of trade. In the late 19th century, railroads were extended on a north–south axis through the city, making Wuhan an important

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g ...

point between rail and river traffic. Also during this period foreign powers extracted mercantile concessions, with the riverfront of Hankou being divided up into foreign-controlled merchant districts. These districts contained trading firm offices, warehouses, and docking facilities. The French had a concession in Hankou. HuangHe_Tower2

The forces of the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

captured the Wuhan area in following the Battle of Wuchang in late 1852 and continued to hold the area and much of the lower Yangtze River region until the Heavenly Kingdom's defeat in 1864. Both urban and rural areas suffered severe damage as a result of constant fighting. During the Second Opium War (known in the West as the Arrow War, 1856–1860), the government of the Qing dynasty was defeated by the western powers and signed the Treaties of Tianjin and the

Convention of Peking The Convention of Peking or First Convention of Peking is an agreement comprising three distinct treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire in 1860. In China, they are regarded as amon ...

, which stipulated eleven cities or regions (including Hankou) as trading ports. In December 1858,

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1 ...

, High Commissioner to China, led four warships up the Yangtze River in Wuhan to collect the information needed for opening the trading port in Wuhan. And in the spring of 1861, Counselor Harry Parkes and Admiral Herbert were sent to Wuhan to open a trading port. On the basis of the Convention of Peking, Harry Parkes concluded the Hankou Lend-Lease Treaty with Guan Wen, the governor-general of Hunan and Hubei. It brought an area of along the Yangtze River (from Jianghan Road to Hezuo Road today) to become a British Concession and permitted Britain to set up its consulate in the concession. Thus, Hankou became an open trading port.

Hubei under Zhang Zhidong

In 1889,

Zhang Zhidong Zhang Zhidong () (4 September 18375 October 1909) was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Qing dynasty. Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous officials of the late Qing ...

was transferred from

Viceroy of Liangguang The Viceroy of Liangguang or Viceroy of the Two Guangs, was one of eight regional Viceroys during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The two ''Guang'' referred to Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. The areas under the Viceroy's jurisdiction included pre ...

(

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

and Guangxi provinces) to Viceroy of Huguang (

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

and

provinces). He governed the province for 18 years, until 1907. During this period, he elucidated the theory of "Chinese learning as the basis, Western learning for application," known as the ti-yong ideal. He set up many heavy industries, founded Hanyang Steel Plant,

Daye Daye () is a county-level city in eastern Hubei province, China. It is under the administration of the Huangshi prefecture-level city. As it is usually the case with county-level cities, Daye includes both an urban core and a fair amount of rural ...

Iron Mine, Pingxiang Coal Mine and Hubei Arsenal and set up local textile industries, boosting the flourishing modern industry in Wuhan. Meanwhile, he initiated education reform, opened dozens of modern educational organizations successively, such as Lianghu (Hunan and Hubei) Academy of Classical Learning, Civil General Institute, Military General Institute, Foreign Languages Institute and Lianghu (Hunan and Hubei) General Normal School, and selected a great many students for study overseas, which well promoted the development of China's modern education. Furthermore, he trained a modern military and organized a modern army including a zhen and a xie (both zhen and xie are military units in the Qing dynasty) in Hubei. All of these laid a solid foundation for the modernization of Wuhan. Originally known as the Hubei Arsenal, the

Hanyang Arsenal Hanyang Arsenal () was one of the largest and oldest modern arsenals in Chinese history. History Originally known as the ''Hubei Arsenal'', it was founded in 1891 by Qing official Zhang Zhidong, who diverted funds from the Nanyang Fleet in Gua ...

was founded in 1891 by Qing official Zhang Zhidong, who diverted funds from the

Nanyang Fleet The Nanyang Fleet () was one of the four modernised Chinese naval fleets in the late Qing Dynasty. Established in the 1870s, the fleet suffered losses in the Sino-French War, escaped intact in the Sino-Japanese War, and was formally abolished i ...

to build the arsenal. It cost about 250,000 pounds sterling and was built in 4 years. On 23 April 1894, construction was completed and the arsenal, occupying some , could start production of small-calibre cannons. It built magazine-fed rifles, Gruson quick fire guns, and cartridges.

Wuchang Uprising

On October 10, 1911, Sun Yat-sen's followers launched the

Wuchang Uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last ...

,戴逸, 龔書鐸. 002(2003) 中國通史. 清. Intelligence press. . pp 86-89. which led to the collapse of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

,Fenby, Jonathan. 008(2008). The History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power. . pg 107, pg 116, pg 119. as well as the establishment of the Republic of China.Welland, Sasah Su-ling. 007(2007). A Thousand Miles of Dreams: The Journeys of Two Chinese Sisters. Rowman Littlefield Publishing. , . pg 87. Wuhan was the capital of a leftist

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

government led by

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

, in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist government during the 1920s. The

of October 1911, which overthrew the Qing dynasty, originated in Wuhan. Before the uprising, anti-Qing secret societies were active in Wuhan. In September 1911, the outbreak of the protests in Sichuan forced the Qing authorities to send part of the New Army garrisoned in Wuhan to suppress the rebellion.Wang, Ke-wen. 998(1998). Modern China: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture and Nationalism. Taylor & Francis Publishing. , . pp 390-391. On September 14 the Literary Society () and the Progressive Association (), two local revolutionary organizations in Hubei, set up joint headquarters in Wuchang and planned for an uprising. On the morning of October 9, a bomb at the office of the political arrangement exploded prematurely and alerted local authorities.王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #6 民國. 中華書局. . pp 3-7. The proclamation for the uprising, beadroll and the revolutionaries’ official seal fell into the hands of Rui Cheng, the governor-general of Hunan and Hubei, who demolished the uprising headquarters the same day and set out to arrest the revolutionaries listed in the beadroll. This forced the revolutionaries to launch the uprising earlier than planned. On the night of October 10, the revolutionaries fired shots to signal the uprising at the engineering barracks of Hubei

New Army The New Armies ( Traditional Chinese: 新軍, Simplified Chinese: 新军; Pinyin: Xīnjūn, Manchu: ''Ice cooha''), more fully called the Newly Created Army ( ''Xinjian Lujun''Also translated as "Newly Established Army" ()), was the modernised ...

. They then led the New Army of all barracks to join the revolution. Spence, Jonathan D. 990(1990). ''

The Search for Modern China ''The Search for Modern China'' is a 1990 non-fiction book by Jonathan Spence, published by Century Hutchinson and W. W. Norton & Company. It covers the period 1600 to 1989. According to Spence, the goal was to explain how Modern China was creat ...

''. W. W. Norton & Company. , . pp 250-256. Under the guidance of Wu Zhaolin, Cai Jimin and others, this revolutionary army seized the official residence of the governor and government offices. Rui Cheng fled in panic into the Chu-Yu Ship. Zhang Biao, the commander of Qing army, also fled the city. On the morning of the 11th, the revolutionary army took the whole city of Wuchang, but leaders such as Jiang Yiwu and Sun Wu disappeared. Thus the leaderless revolutionary army recommended

Li Yuanhong Li Yuanhong (; courtesy name Songqing 宋卿) (October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a Chinese politician during the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the president of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1917, and between 1922 ...

, the assistant governor of Qing army, as the commander-in-chief.Harrison Henrietta. 000(2000). The Making of the Republican Citizen: Political Ceremonies and Symbols in China, 1911-1929. Oxford University Press. , . pp 16-17. Li founded the Hubei Military Government, proclaimed the abolition of the Qing rule in Hubei, the founding of the Republic of China and published an open telegram calling for other provinces to join the revolution. In the next two months, fourteen other provinces would declare their independence from the Qing government. As the revolution spread to other parts of the country, the Qing government concentrated loyalist military forces to suppress the uprising in Wuhan. From October 17 to December 1, the revolutionary army and local volunteers defended the city in the Battle of Yangxia against better armed and more numerous Qing forces commanded by

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

Huang Xing Huang Xing or Huang Hsing (; 25 October 1874 – 31 October 1916) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and politician, and the first commander-in-chief of the Republic of China. As one of the founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic o ...

() would arrive in Wuhan in early November to take command of the revolutionary army. After fierce fighting and heavy casualties, Qing forces seized Hankou and Hanyang. But Yuan agreed to halt the advance on Wuchang and participated in peace talks, which would eventually lead to the return of Sun Yat-sen from exile, founding of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912, the abdication of the Last Emperor on February 12, and the formation of a united provisional government in the spring of 1912.Bergere, Marie-Claire. Lloyd Janet. 000(2000). Sun Yat-sen. Stanford University Press. , . p 207. Through the Wuchang Uprising, Wuhan is known as the birthplace of the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...

, named after the Xinhai year on the Chinese calendar.雙十節是？陸民眾：「國民黨」國慶
Tvbs.com.tw. Retrieved on 2011-10-08. The city has several museums and memorials to the revolution and the thousands of martyrs who died defending the revolution.

Republic of China

Missionaries

Reverend (later Bishop) Edward Galvin led the first band of the Missionary Society of St. Columban to open their mission in the

Hanyang District Hanyang District () forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. Currently, it is a district and stands between the Han River (right/southern bank) ...

. Galvin was named Apostolic Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Hanyang by the Holy See in 1923 and later made the

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Chur ...

of the promoted Apostolic Vicariate of Hanyang in 1927, with Galvin being consecrated as its titular bishop (it became a diocese under him in 1946, suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou).

National government moves its capital to Wuhan

Li Zongren's first victories as a Nationalist general were in Hunan, where he defeated rival warlord

Wu Peifu Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu (; April 22, 1874 – December 4, 1939) was a major figure in the struggles between the warlords who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927. Early career Born in Shandong Province in eastern China, Wu initi ...

in two successive battles and captured the provincial capital, Wuhan, in 1926. With the northern extension of the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

, the center of the Great Revolution shifted from the Pearl River basin to the Yangtze River basin. On November 26, the KMT Central Political Committee decided to move the capital from Guangzhou to Wuhan. In middle December, most of the KMT central executive commissioners and national government commissioners arrived in Wuhan, set up the temporary joint conference of central executive commissioners and National Government commissioners, performed the top functions of central party headquarters and National Government, declared they would work in Wuhan on January 1, 1927, and decided to combine the towns of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang into Wuhan City, called "Capital District". The national government was in the Nanyang Building in Hankou, while the central party headquarters and other organizations chose their locations in Hankou or Wuchang. In March 1927,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

appeared at the Third Plenum of the KMT Central Executive Committee in Wuhan, which sought to strip General Chiang of his power by appointing

leader. The first phase of the Northern Expedition was interrupted by the political split in the Kuomintang following the formation of the

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

faction in April 1927 against the existing faction in Wuhan. Members of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

, who had survived the April 12 massacre, met at Wuhan and re-elected Chen Duxiu (Ch'en Tu-hsiu) as the Party's Secretary General. The split was partially motivated by the purge of the Communists within the party, which marked the end of the

First United Front The First United Front (; alternatively ), also known as the KMT–CCP Alliance, of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end warlordism in China. Together they formed the National Revo ...

, and Chiang Kai-shek briefly stepped down as the commander of the National Revolutionary Army. In June 1927,

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

sent a telegram to the Communists in Wuhan, calling for mobilisation of an army of workers and peasants. This alarmed Wang Jingwei, who decided to break with the Communists and come to terms with Chiang Kai-shek. The Wuhan coup was a political shift made on July 15, 1927 by Wang Jingwei towards Chiang Kai-shek, and his

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

-based rival in the

(KMT). Borodin returned to the Soviet Union by train in July 1927, accompanied by Sun Yat-sen's widow

Soong Ching-ling Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 189329 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. ...

. "The revolution extends to the Yangtze, Yangzi River," Borodin told a reporter as they began their journey, and "if a diver were sent down to the bottom of this yellow stream he would rise again with an armful of shattered hopes." On July 27, 1927, Soviet emissary Mikhail Borodin and 30 people left Wuhan in five cars and five trucks to return to the USSR in a two-month overland trip, after General Feng Yuxiang was bribed to guarantee him safe passage—twelve days after Chinese Communists were expelled. Borodin had had a bounty of US$29,000 for his capture, and had hidden in the home of Nationalist official and future Chinese Premier T. V. Soong. Borodin finally returned to Moscow on October 6. The Wuhan Nationalist Government was established in Wuhan on February 21, 1927, and ended by August 19, 1927.Clark, Anne Biller. Clark, Anne Bolling. Klein, Donald. Klein, Donald Walker. [1971] (1971). Harvard Univ. Biographic Dictionary of Chinese communism. Original from the University of Michigan v.1. Digitized Dec 21, 2006. p 134.

Flooding in the 1930s

In the 1931 China floods, the high-water mark was reached on 19 August at

, with the water level exceeding above normal. Comparatively, this is an average of above the Bund (Shanghai), the Shanghai Bund.Pietz, David (2002). ''Engineering the State: The Huai River and Reconstruction in Nationalist China 1927–1937''. Routledge. . pp. xvii, 61–70. In 1936, when natural disaster struck Central China with widespread flooding affecting Hebei (),

(), Jiangxi (), Wuhan and Chongqing () caused by the

and Huai Rivers () bursting their banks, Ong Seok Kim, as Chairman of the Sitiawan Fundraising and Disaster Relief Committee, raised money and materials in support of the victims.

Battle of Wuhan

During the Second Sino-Japanese War and following the fall of Nanking in December 1937, Wuhan had become the provisional capital of China's Kuomintang government, and became another focal point of pitched air battles beginning in early 1938 between modern monoplane bomber and fighter aircraft of the Imperial Japanese forces and the Republic of China Air Force, Chinese Air Force, which included support from the Soviet Volunteer Group in both planes and personnel, as U.S. support in war materials waned. As the battle raged on through 1938, Wuhan and the surrounding region had become the site of the Battle of Wuhan. After being taken by the Japanese in late 1938, Wuhan became a major Japanese logistics center for operations in southern China. In early October 1938, Japanese troops moved east and north in the outskirts of Wuhan. As a result, numerous companies and enterprises and large numbers of people had to withdraw from Wuhan to the west of Hubei and Sichuan. The KMT navy undertook the responsibility of defending the Yangtze River on patrol and covering the withdrawal. On October 24, while overseeing the waters of the Yangtze River near the town of Jinkou (Jiangxia District in Wuhan) in Wuchang, the KMT gunboat ''Chinese gunboat Chung Shan, Zhongshan'' came up against six Japanese aircraft. Though two were eventually shot down, the ''Zhongshan'' sank with 25 casualties. Raised from the bottom of the Yangtze River in 1997, and restored at a local shipyard, the ''Zhongshan'' has been moved to a purpose-built museum in Wuhan's suburban Jiangxia District, which opened on September 26, 2011.

Bombing of Wuhan

As a key center on the Yangtze, Wuhan was an important base for Japanese operations in China and the Chinese leadership in Chongqing, namely Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng and He Yingqin, approved the tactic of strategic firebombing of Japanese occupied city of Wuhan. In December 1944, the city was largely destroyed by U.S. firebombing raids conducted by the Fourteenth Air Force. On 18 December 1944, Wuhan was bombed by 77 American bombers that set off a firestorm that destroyed much of the city.Fenby, Jonathan ''Chiang Kai-Shek China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost'', New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004 page 447. For the next three days, Wuhan was bombed by the Americans, destroying all of the docks and warehouses of Wuhan, as well as Japanese air bases in the city. The air raids killed thousands of Chinese civilians which American bombers did not know. "According to casualty statistics compiled by Hankou city in 1946, more than 20,000 were killed or injured in the December bombings of 1944."

Chinese Civil War

People's Liberation Army troops entered Wuhan on May 16, 1949.

People's Republic of China

1954 Yangtze River floods

The Changjiang Water Resources Commission was re-established in February 1950 with its headquarters seated in Wuhan. From June to September 1954, the 1954 Yangtze River floods, Yangtze River Floods were a series of catastrophic floodings that occurred mostly in Hubei Province. Due to unusually high volume of precipitation as well as an extraordinarily long rainy season in the middle stretch of the Yangtze River late in the spring of 1954, the river started to rise above its usual level in around late June. Despite efforts to open three important flood gates to alleviate the rising water by diverting it, the flood level continued to rise until it hit the historic high of 44.67 m in Jingzhou, Hubei and 29.73 m in Wuhan. The number of dead from this flood was estimated at around 33,000, including those who died of plague in the aftermath of the disaster. In 1969, a large stone monument was erected in the riverside park in Hankou honoring the heroic deeds in fighting the 1954 Yangtze River floods.

Completion of the First Yangtze River Bridge

Before construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, Hunslet Engine Company built two extra heavy 0-8-0 locomotives for loading the Train ferry, train ferries for crossing the Yangtze River in Wuhan. Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge-1

The project of building the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, also known as the First Yangtze River Bridge, was regarded as one of the key projects during the first five-year plan. The Engineering Bureau of the First Yangtze River Bridge, set up by the Ministry of Railway in April 1953, was responsible for the design and construction of the bridge. The document "Resolutions on Building the First Yangtze River Bridge" was passed in the 203rd conference of State Council on January 15, 1954. The technical conference on the routes of the bridge, held in Hankou on January 15, 1955, determined that the route from Tortoise Hill to Snake Hill was the best choice. On October 25, 1955, construction began on the bridge proper. The same day in 1957, the whole project was completed and an opening-to-traffic ceremony was held on October 15. The bridge is long, of which the upper level is a highway with a width of and the lower level is a double-line railway with a width of . The bridge proper is long with two pairs of eight piers and nine arches with a space of between each arch. The First Yangtze River Bridge united the Beijing–Hankou Railway with the Guangdong–Hankou Railway into the Beijing–Guangzhou Railway, making Wuhan a thoroughfare to nine provinces in name and in fact.

Beidaihe Conference

After Chengdu Conference, Mao went to Chongqing and Wuhan in April to inspect the countryside and factories. In Wuhan, he called all the leaders of provinces and municipalities who had not attended Chengdu Conference to report their work. Tian Jiaying, the secretary of Mao, said that Wuhan Conference was a supplement to Chengdu Conference.

Wuhan Incident

In July 1967, civil strife struck the city in the Wuhan Incident ("July 20th Incident"), an armed conflict between two hostile groups who were fighting for control over the city at the height of the Cultural Revolution.

Crash of Wuhan Airlines Flight 343

On June 22, 2000, a Wuhan Airlines flight from Enshi Xujiaping Airport, Enshi to Wuhan was forced to circle for 30 minutes due to thunderstorms. The aircraft eventually crashed on the banks of Han River (Hanshui), Han River in

, all on-board perished (there were varying accounts of number of crews and passengers). In addition, the crash also killed 7 people on the ground.

2008 Summer Olympics Boycotts

Chinese protesters organized boycotts of the French-owned retail chain Carrefour in major Chinese cities including Kunming, Hefei and Wuhan, accusing the French nation of pro-secessionist conspiracy and anti-Chinese racism. The BBC reported that hundreds of people demonstrated in Beijing, Wuhan, Hefei, Kunming and Qingdao."Anti-French rallies across China"
BBC, April 19, 2008

Internet Firewall

On May 19, 2011, Fang Binxing, the Principal of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (also known as "Father of Great Firewall of China, China's Great Fire Wall") was hit on the chest by a shoe thrown at him by a Huazhong University of Science and Technology student who calls herself "hanunyi" (Chinese:寒君依, or 小湖北) while Fang was giving a lecture at Wuhan University. According to Radio France Internationale, RFI, the student discussed the planned shoe attack on Twitter and, with the help of other bloggers, was able to locate the exact whereabouts and the time of Fang's lecture. After the shoeing, "Hanunyi" walked out while other students tried to obstruct school teachers who were going to detain her. "Hanunyi" became an instant internet hero of the Chinese blogosphere. During an interview with CNN, "Hanunyi" said, "I'm not happy about what (Fang) does. His work made me spend unnecessary money to get access to the website that is supposed to be free... He makes my online surfing very inconvenient."

Flooding in the 2010s

Wuhan University - Water Resources Lab - Yu the Great - DSCF4288

The city has been subject to devastating floods, which are now supposed to be controlled by the ambitious Three Gorges Dam, a project which was completed in 2008. The 2008 Chinese winter storms damaged water supply equipment in Wuhan: up to 100,000 people were out of running water when several water pipes burst, cutting the supply to local households. The 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves, 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat wave hit Wuhan on July 3. In the 2010 China floods, the Han River (Hanshui), Han River at Wuhan experienced its worst flooding in twenty years, as officials continued sandbagging efforts along the Han and Yangtze Rivers in the city and checked reservoirs. In the 2011 China floods, Wuhan was flooded, with parts of the city losing power. In the 2016 China floods, Wuhan saw of rainfall during the first week of July, surpassing the record that fell on the city in 1991. A flood alert, red alert for heavy rainfall was issued on 2 July, the same day that eight people died after a section of a tall wall collapsed on top of them. The city's subway system, the Wuhan Metro was partially submerged as was the Wuhan Railway Station, main railway station. At least 14 city residents were killed, one was missing, and more than 80,000 were relocated. On January 31, 2018, Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, visited Wuhan, spoke at Wuhan University and visited the Yellow Crane Tower and the First Yangtze River Bridge. She took pictures at the Yellow Crane Tower and on the Wuchang District side of the Yangtze River at the First Yangtze River Bridge.http://www.dzwww.com/xinwen/guoneixinwen/201802/t20180201_16992854.htm

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic had its first major outbreak in Wuhan in November or December 2019. Wuhan lockdown, The city was placed under lockdown in January 2020 to control the spread of the disease.

Notes

References

External links

{{Hubei topics History of Wuhan,